Shanta Vasisht
{{short description|Indian politician}}
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{{Use Indian English|date=October 2021}}
Shanta Vasisht (born ca. 1926) is an Indian politician. During the 1950s and 1960s she served as minister in the Delhi state government and as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Student years
Vasisht studied law at the University of Delhi. Her father, L.D. Vasisht, served as Chief Administrative Officer of the Ministry of Defence.Ministry of Defence. [http://caomod.nic.in/About_us/earstwhile_CAOs.htm List of erstwhile CAOs & Joint Secretary ] During her student years she was active in the Delhi branch of the Indian National Congress and worked with the Kingsway Refugee Committee. In 1950 she studied social work at the University of Chicago, through a Foreign Student scholarship of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=shMNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jGoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1711%2C2310718 Woman Lawyer Plans Return to Native India], Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – 22 June 1950Kappa Alpha Theta. [https://grandconvention.kappaalphatheta.org/page/19461958 1946–1958]
Delhi Assembly
Upon her return to India, Vasisht contested the 1952 Delhi Legislative Assembly election. Vasisht stood as the Congress Party candidate in the Kotla Feroze Shah constituency. She won the seat, defeating V.P. Joshi of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh. In total Vasisht obtained 4,646 votes (56.26% of the votes in the constituency).Election Commission of India. [http://eci.gov.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1951/StatRep_51_DELHI.pdf STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1951 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF DELHI] In 1953 she was appointed by the Chief Minister of Delhi Chaudhary Brahm Prakash as Deputy Minister for Education in the Delhi State government.Puri, Yogesh. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BOWNAAAAMAAJ Party Politics in the Nehru Era: A Study of Congress in Delhi]. New Delhi, India: National Book Organisation, 1993. p. 102Teacher Education. [http://www.teindia.nic.in/mhrd/50yrsedu/g/12/28/12280201.htm PROCEEDINGS OF THE TWENTY FIRST MEETING] Her nomination was criticised by a minority faction inside the Congress Legislature Party in Delhi, who claimed that the Chief Minister shouldn't have nominated deputy ministers without consulting the assembly members of the party.
Vasisht took part in the reviving of the Delhi Library Association in 1954, and served as longest president of the association.[https://books.google.com/books?id=5pAaAAAAMAAJ Library Herald], Vol. 7–9. Delhi Library Association., 1965. p. 87Ranganathan, Shiyali Ramamrita, and Prithvi Nath Kaula. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzPhAAAAMAAJ A Librarian Looks Back: An Autobiography of Dr. S.R. Ranganathan]. New Delhi: ABC Publ. House, 1992. p. 378
Rajya Sabha
Vasisht was elected to the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the Parliament of India) in 1960. Her term lasted from 3 April 1960 to 2 April 1966, under the governments of Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.The Telegraph. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081027052753/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081023/jsp/nation/story_10008290.jsp Disruption shame in House]Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee. [http://www.dpcc.co.in/previousrajyasabha.php FORMER MEMBERS OF RAJYA SABHA FROM DELHI]
Later period
In 2008 Vasisht released the book Nehru to Iraq, which details her experiences in the struggle for Indian Independence.The Tribune. [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20081019/spectrum/book5.htm Requiem to a bygone era] As of 2013, Vasisht resided in the Sarvodaya Enclave.Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi. [http://ceodelhi.gov.in/WriteReadData/AssemblyConstituency/AC43/A0430092.pdf ELECTORAL ROLL 2013, STATE- (U05) DELHI] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315075327/http://ceodelhi.gov.in/WriteReadData/AssemblyConstituency/AC43/A0430092.pdf |date=15 March 2013 }}
References
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Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Delhi
Category:Rajya Sabha members from Delhi
Category:Women members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly
Category:State cabinet ministers of Delhi
Category:20th-century Indian lawyers
Category:20th-century Indian women politicians
Category:20th-century Indian politicians
Category:Women state cabinet ministers of India
Category:20th-century Indian women lawyers